Mark Ruffalo Almost Played the Hulk Before <i>The Avengers</i>

It appears that Mark Ruffalo's turn as Marvel's Incredible Hulk in The Avengers was so popular that aside from fielding rumors about new spinoffs, he's also being cast in films that came out years ago.

Empirehas a new interview snippet with Louis Leterrier, the director of 2008's Incredible Hulk, wherein the Clash of the Titans helmer explains he wanted to cast Ruffalo as his Bruce Banner back then.

"I've known Mark for quite a while," the director said. "I met him on my Hulk a long time ago and it was funny -- Marvel didn't go with him first time around."

Of course, the role went to Edward Norton, making Incredible Hulk a modest box office success and one of the first bricks laid in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But as Ruffalo and director Joss Whedon both shoot down rumors of Hulk films to come, it's a nice "What If?" scenario for fans craving more of the actor's jittery Bruce Banner ahead of The Avengers 2.